The present invention concerns a device offering direct or indirect controlled dispensing of a liquid from a bottle called dispenser or fountain.
For one thing the conception of traditional fountains is based either on the adaptation of specific water containers, with a specific stopper without offering the autonomous functions of controlling air flow intake, liquid flow and dispensing, or on a direct connection to a water or liquid network, not offering the double possibilities to serve liquid directly from a standardized bottleneck bottle and indirectly when the device is completed with, for example, a cooling or heating system while being easily adaptable on any standardized format bottles.
On the other hand, there is on the market containers of mineral water or any kind of liquid having an increasing volume: five liters bottles, one gallon bottles, 10 liters bottles which are relatively heavy and which also present sometimes, a too great liquid flow because of their broad bottleneck. Up to this date, there is no available system which can easily fit on any kind of available mineral or spring water bottles available in large-scale distribution, in order to offer the same kind of service whatever the consumer choice.
Furthermore in this particular field, the spring or mineral water consumption from bottles is an answer to new increasing needs based on individualized criteria for which the large fountains, mainly intended for collective uses, are incapable to meet, as said fountains can""t offer a possibility of individual choice as for the type of container and contents, and in addition, for weight bulky and handling criteria, are not really adaptable to the various and numerous small economic liberal, commercial or familial entities.
Therefore, the existing kinds of fountain systems are not particularly conceived for a light and individual use and are limited to a specific use. The traditional devices cannot offer simultaneously a possible use directly from the bottle, and indirectly, when completed with, for example, with a cooling or heating device, and are not easily adaptable at low cost to any kind of yet mainly standardized bottles which are available in large-scale distribution.
Thus, the present invention proposes technical remedies to these above-mentioned disadvantages, by simple, reliable, and easy to implement means.
According to the principal characteristic, the device, called dispenser or fountain, presents a kind of cartridge with a valve which can be opened by simple pressure, comprising simple means of adaptation, interchangeability, watertightness and for fixing on one or different kinds of standardized format bottlenecks, autonomous means for controlling air flow intake during liquid output, autonomous means for regulating liquid flow and retaining said liquid and an element of reception and control, firmly maintaining the cartridge and providing means for controlling liquid dispensing either directly or, indirectly, when the device according to the invention is inserted in another complementary system such as a cooling or heating system.
According to a complementary characteristic, the means of interchangeability, watertightness and for fixing the cartridge on one or several types of standardized bottlenecks, include at least one easily adaptable or changeable element, which can be in the form of a double stopper integrating the passage of liquid into the cartridge, being fixed both on the bottleneck and on the casing of the cartridge and comprising one or more watertight adaptative concentrically laid out or juxtaposed on a same support making the cartridge adaptable to various types of bottlenecks.
According to another characteristic, the air flow intake control means are ensured by one or more permanent air openings feeding an air pocket retained between a membranexe2x80x94located between the part fixed to the bottleneck and the rest of the casing, and a flexible device acting as an air valve authorizing only the passage of the air inward the bottle, by sucking up during the liquid discharging.
According to another characteristic, the means for controlling liquid discharge are ensured by at least one membrane including at least one opening or tube regulating the flow of the outgoing liquid from the bottleneck and at least one opening letting the air go up.
According to another characteristic, the autonomous means for retaining the liquid and for controlling its dispensing comprise at least one element acting as a watertightness valve retaining the liquid in a xe2x80x9cclosedxe2x80x9d position, closely embracing the cartridge shape under the liquid pressure or under an additional permanent pressure from any flexible device (fine plastic strips or any spring for example) releasing the liquid out when said valve is pushed in the cartridge and a vertical slip towards the interior (a tetrahedral, spherical, pyramidal or conical shape or also in a form of xe2x80x9cTxe2x80x9d, xe2x80x9cYxe2x80x9d), the smallest tip in the bottom, exceeding or not the nozzle and being able to be prolonged by a tube being used both to guide its movement precisely and to guide the liquid out which enters it by side openings during the pushing of the valve in the cartridge on the xe2x80x9copenxe2x80x9d position.
According to another characteristic, the device includes one or several elements ensuring the reception of the cartridge, maintaining it firmly in vertical position, providing the ventilation of the cartridge and ensuring the active or passive dispensing commands.
The whole and the combination of the preceding characteristics allows advantageously a double possibility of liquid dispensing either directly from the cartridge or indirectly through complementary half-closed circuit device such as a cooling or heating system, while ensuring an autonomous regulation and control of the liquid flow and air intake.
According to another characteristic, the cartridge reception device can offer in only one piece a complete set of commands for liquid dispensing such as a lever, only attached by a thin articulation zone, including the necessary element to raise the valve inside the cartridge, a tubular protuberance which surmounts the central opening of the liquid dispensing lever, and one or two means of command in the form of a front-end pressure button and of a strip located behind the liquid dispensing opening, one to be activated by a finger, the other by a container such as a glass, the whole device being able to be manufactured in only one molding operation, particularly for plastic injection.
According to an alternative of use of the dispenser, the liquid dispensing commands, normally located on the device intended to receive the cartridge, can be directly located on the cartridge making it entirely autonomous.
According to various alternatives of use, the liquid dispensing device comprises necessary means for several types of applications such as, for example, its adaptation to a mural disinfectant liquid dispenser for bathroom (mouthwash).